Pump station construction

ABSTRACT

A pump station assembly for vertical shaft, centrifugal sewage pumps or the like. The assembly seats in a standard four-foot manhole with a lower wet section below a deck plate and an upper dry section above the deck plate. Attached to the underside of the deck plate are the volute, with enclosed impeller, intake and discharge nozzle of the pump. The motor, adapter and impeller can be quickly removed, as a single unit, for cleanup or seal replacement. The upper dry section includes the pump motor with a vertical shaft extending down through the deck plate to drive the impeller. A vacuum priming system mounted above the deck plate is utilized to start the pump. A thermostat controls a solenoidoperated valve to dump all liquid in the pump back into the lower wet section if the temperature of the liquid falls below a predetermined level.

United-States Patent 1,059,409 4/1913 Thomas Continuation-impart of application Ser. No.

Se pt. 27, 1968, now abandoned.

PUMP STATION m'inmros' W 10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

11.8. CI 222/54, 222/182, 222/333, 222/385;4l7/3 60; 137/62 Int. Cl B67d 5/32, F04b 41/06 Field of Search 222/54,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-H. S. Lane Attorney-Charles M. Kaplan ABSTRACT: A pump station assembly for vertical shaft, centrifugal sewage pumps or the like. The assembly seats in a standard four-foot manhole with a lower wet section below a deck plate and an upper dry section above the deck plate. Attached to the underside of the deck plate are the volute, with enclosed impeller, intake and discharge nozzle of the pump. The motor, adapter and impeller can be quickly removed, as a single unit, for cleanup or seal replacement. The upper dry section includes the pump motor with a vertical shaft extending down through the deck plate to drive the impeller. A vacuum priming system mounted above the deck plate is utilized to start the pump. A thermostat controls a solenoidoperated valve to dump all liquid in the pump back into the lower wet section if the temperature of the liquid falls below a predetermined level.

PATENTEDJAN26I971 $558,012

SHEET 1 0F 2 /7W///? 5. M/y

PUMP STATION CONSTRUCTION This is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 763,257, of Sept. 27, I968, entitled Pump Station Construction, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sewage pump stations have heretofore been rather large, cumbersome assemblies, ill-suited to mounting on a standard size manhole. They normally require a special wet well construction to protect pump components, for example, from freezing during the winter months in intemperate climes. The moving parts of conventional pump station assemblies are not readily accessible. It has been difficult to remove the motor and impeller for service and maintenance and the volute has not been readily accessible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to a pumping system, and in particular, relates to a pump station assembly for sewage handling or the like. ,The pump'station assembly is so constructed so as to facilitate removal of the motor and impeller for service and maintenance, and also increases accessibility to the volute. Thermostatic control means are also provided to prevent freezing of liquid contained within the pump.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved pump station assembly or the like.

Another object is to provide a pump station assembly for sewage handling or the like that permits easy removal of the motor and impeller for service and maintenance.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pump station assembly for sewage handling or the like in which the volute is so positioned so as to be readily accessible for service and maintenance.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a pump station assembly for sewage handling or the like that automatically removes liquid contained in the pump, to prevent freezing, when the temperature of the liquid falls below a predetermined temperature.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawing, specification and claims.

The foregoing and other objects are realized in accord with the invention by providing a pump station assembly embodying two vertical shaft, vacuum primed, centrifugal pumps mounted on a deck plate which functions as a sealing wall between a wet wall below the deck and a housing above the deck. The assembly fits into a standard 4-foot manhole and requires no special wet wall construction to mount it. The pump motors are mounted above the deck plate while the intakes, volutes, impellers, and discharges are located below the deck plate. The volutes are mounted to the under side of the deck plate and above the liquid level. Upper and lower displacement switches are provided to control pump operation and thereby keep the liquid level within a predetermined range. The motors and impellers can be lifted a short distance, as a single unit, to gain access to the volutes without disturbing the intakes and discharges. A thermostat controls a solenoidoperated valve to dump all liquid contained in the pump unit back into the wet well if the temperature of the liquid drops below a predetermined level.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention, together with its construction and method of operation, taken with other objects and advantages thereof, is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view, with parts in section and others removed, of a vacuum prime pump station assembly embodying features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the assembly illustrated in FIG. I, with the cover removed;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the vacuum prime pump taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2 including a diagrammatic view of the thermostatic controlled liquid removal system; and

FIG. 4 is a view of an alternative thermostat control.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, a vacuum prime pump station assembly embodying features of the present invention is illustrated generally at 10. The station assembly 10 is seated in a standard 4-foot manhole I], mounted on the flat upper edge 12 of the annular wall ofthe manhole. v

The station assembly 10 includes a deck late l5 which aetually rests on the upper surface I2 ofthe annular wall of the manhole II. The deck plate 15 separates the vacuum prime pump station assembly into a lower wet section I6 and an upper dry section I7. The lower wet section I6 is protected from freezing, for example, because it is totally enclosed by the sump wall and the deck plate 15. On the other hand, the dry section 17 includes all of the moving parts of the assembly, or at least affords ready access to them so the assembly can readily be serviced and maintained from above the surface of the ground.

Mounted on the deck plate 15 are two vertical shaft, centrifugal pump units 20 and 20a. Since the pump units 20 and 20a are identical, only the pump unit 20 will be described in detail, and corresponding reference numerals (with the addition of the suffix a") applied to the corresponding components of the pump unit 20a.

The pump unit 20 is a vacuum primed, vertical shaft pump generally of the type disclosed in the copending application of Frank G. Weis, Ser. No. 761,023, filed Sept. 20, I968, now Pat. No. 3,519,369, entitled PUMP PRIMING SYSTEM and assigned to the same assignce as the present invention.

The pump unit 20 includes a motor 25 and a motor-pump adapter 26 mounted on top of the deck plate 15 in the manner illustrated. The motor 25 is enclosed in a casing in a wellknown manner, and is bolted onto the top of the adapter 26 in vertically disposed relationship. A shaft 27 extends vertically downwardly from the motor 25 through the adapter 26 and the deck plate 15 into pump 30 of the pump unit 20.

The aforementioned shaft 27 extends through aperture 42 in deck plate 15 into an annular volute 31 secured to the underside of plate 15, by bolts and brackets 32. The pump volute 31 contains a conventional impeller 28 which draws solidbearing liquid sewage upwardly from an intake pipe 35 and discharged it through a generally horizontally disposed discharge nozzle 36. As will be recognized, the discharge nozzles 36 and 36a are joined by suitable piping 37 and 37a to a special tee 38 which forms a common discharge pipe 39.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, motor 25, adapter 26, shaft 27 and impeller 28 may be lifted through aperture 42, as a single unit, by removing bolts 47. Thus, volute 31, intake pipe 35, and discharge nozzle 36 are readily accessible directly through aperture 42 in deck plate 15 for service and maintenance.

The pump units 20 and 20a are primed by a vacuum priming system 45 of the type illustrated in the aforementioned application entitled PUMP PRIMING SYSTEM. When the sewage reaches a certain level in the wall, just below the bottom of volute 31, a conventional high level displacement switch 71 calls for one or both of the pump units 20 and 20a to operate. The vacuum pump 46 of the system 45 evacuates air from the pump chambers through the volute back head 33 between the volutes 31 and 31a and the motor section adapters 26 and 26a. When liquid reaches electrode 34 in the priming system 45, the priming pump 46 shuts off. The sewage pump units 20, 20a then run and pump the wet well down to a conventional low level displacement switch 72, whereupon the pump units stop. The electrical control circuit including displacement switches 71 and 72 is conventional and therefore has not been illustrated.

Mounted on the adapter 26 is a conventional bimetal thermostat 50. As seen in FIG. 3, thermostat 50 is positioned on adapter 26 so as to measure the temperature of the liquid contained within adapter 26. Thermostat 50 controls solenoidoperated valve 60 to dump all liquid in the pump unit back into the wet well when the temperature drops below I a predetermined level. This is attained by venting air into priming chamber 49 through valve 60 which results in los of prime and thereby allows the liquid to fall back into the wet well. The solenoid-operated valve 60 (spring loaded toward open position) opens automatically to accomplish this end if there is a power failure.

In FIG. 4, an alternative arrangement is shown where then mostat 50' is positioned on adapter 26 so as to control solenoid-operated valve 60 if the temperature of adapter 26 falls below a predetermined level.

While the embodiment described herein is at present considered to be preferred, it is understood that various modifications and improvements may be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications and improvements as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

lclaim:

l. A pump station assembly for sewage handling and the like, wherein the assembly is mounted in a manhole, comprismg:

a. a deck plate horizontally disposed and fitted on the upper periphery of the manhole;

b. vertical shaft, centrifugal pump unit mounted on said deck plate;

c. said pump unit including motor means mounted on and extending upwardly from said deck plate;

d. centrifugal pump means mounted under and extending downwardly from said deck plate;

e. said pump means including volute means separate from but connected directly to the underside of said deck plate, and inlet and outlet means depending from said volute means; and

f. said pump means being driven from said motor means through said deck plate.

2. The pump station assembly of claim 1, further characterized by and including, a vacuum priming system for said pump unit; said vacuum priming system being mounted in a housing enclosing said motor means and mounted above said deck plate.

3. The pump system assembly of claim 1, further charac terized by and including, thermostat control means effective to cause said pump unit to drain all liquid contained therein when the liquid contained in said pump unit falls below a predetermined temperature.

4. The pump station assembly of claim 3, further characterized in that said thermostat means senses the temperature of the liquid and controls a solenoid vent valve which allows air into said pump unit to drain said pump unit.

5. The pump system of claim 1, further characterized by and including, thermostat control means effective to cause said pump unit to drain all liquid contained therein when the temperature of the surrounding structural surface falls below a predetermined level.

6. The pump station assembly of claim 1 further characterized by and including: a high-level displacement switch and a low-level displacement switch; said high-level displacement switch positioned so as to cause said pump unit to operate when the liquid level is just below said volute; and said lowlevel displacement switch positioned so as to stop said pump unit when said liquid level falls belowa predetermined point in thc manhole.

7. The pump station assembly of claim 4, further characterized in that said solenoid vent valve opens automatically to drain all the liquid contained within said pump unit during a power failure.

8. A pump station assembly for sewage handling and the like, wherein the assembly is mounted in a manhole, comprising;

a. a deck plate horizontally disposed, having an aperture therein, fitted on the upper periphery of the manhole;

b. vertical shaft, centrifugal pump unit mounted on said deck plate;

. said pump unit including motor means mounted on and extending upwardly from said deck plate;

d. centrifugal pump means mounted under and extending downwardly from said deck plate;

0. said pump means including volute means, having an aperture therein, connected directly to the underside of said deck plate, said volute aperture being in vertical alignment with said deck plate aperture, and inlet and outlet means depending from said volute means;

. impeller means located within said volute being driven through said deck by said motor means; and

g. said impeller means positioned with respect to said deck plate aperture and said volute aperture so as to permit said motor means and said impeller means to be lifted from said deck plate without disturbing said volute means and said inlet and outlet means.

9. The pump station assembly of claim 8, further charac terized by and including: i

a. a vacuum priming system for said pump unit, said vacuum priming system being mounted in a housing enclosing said motor means and mounted above said deck plate; and

b. said thermostat control means controls a solenoid vent valve which allows air to enter said pump unit and thereby drain said pump unit of all liquid contained therein when said contained liquid falls below said predetermined temperature.

10. ln a pumping unit having a centrifugal pump, an operating motor, a vacuum priming pump for priming said centrifugal pump, the improvement comprising:

a. thermostat control means effective to determine when the liquid contained within said pump unit fallsbelow a predetermined temperature;

b. said thermostat control means controls a solenoid vent valve whichallows air to enter said pump unit and thereby drain said ,pump unit of all liquid contained therein when said contained liquid falls below said predetermined temperature. 

1. A pump station assembly for sewage handling and the like, wherein the assembly is mounted in a manhole, comprising: a. a deck plate horizontally disposed and fitted on the upper periphery of the manhole; b. vertical shaft, centrifugal pump unit mounted on said deck plate; c. said pump unit including motor means mounted on and extending upwardly from said deck plate; d. centrifugal pump means mounted under and extending downwardly from said deck plate; e. said pump means including volute means separate from but connected directly to the underside of said deck plate, and inlet and outlet means depending from said volute means; and f. said pump means being driven from said motor means through said deck plate.
 2. The pump station assembly of claim 1, further characterized by and including, a vacuum priming system for said pump unit; said vacuum priming system being mounted in a housing enclosing said motor means and mounted above said deck plate.
 3. The pump system assembly of claim 1, further characterized by and including, thermostat control means effective to cause said pump unit to drain all liquid contained therein when the liquid contained in said pump unit falls below a predetermined temperature.
 4. The pump station assembly of claim 3, further characterized in that said thermostat means senses the temperature of the liquid and controls a solenoid vent valve which allows air into said pump unit to drain said pump Unit.
 5. The pump system of claim 1, further characterized by and including, thermostat control means effective to cause said pump unit to drain all liquid contained therein when the temperature of the surrounding structural surface falls below a predetermined level.
 6. The pump station assembly of claim 1 further characterized by and including: a high-level displacement switch and a low-level displacement switch; said high-level displacement switch positioned so as to cause said pump unit to operate when the liquid level is just below said volute; and said low-level displacement switch positioned so as to stop said pump unit when said liquid level falls below a predetermined point in the manhole.
 7. The pump station assembly of claim 4, further characterized in that said solenoid vent valve opens automatically to drain all the liquid contained within said pump unit during a power failure.
 8. A pump station assembly for sewage handling and the like, wherein the assembly is mounted in a manhole, comprising; a. a deck plate horizontally disposed, having an aperture therein, fitted on the upper periphery of the manhole; b. vertical shaft, centrifugal pump unit mounted on said deck plate; c. said pump unit including motor means mounted on and extending upwardly from said deck plate; d. centrifugal pump means mounted under and extending downwardly from said deck plate; e. said pump means including volute means, having an aperture therein, connected directly to the underside of said deck plate, said volute aperture being in vertical alignment with said deck plate aperture, and inlet and outlet means depending from said volute means; f. impeller means located within said volute being driven through said deck by said motor means; and g. said impeller means positioned with respect to said deck plate aperture and said volute aperture so as to permit said motor means and said impeller means to be lifted from said deck plate without disturbing said volute means and said inlet and outlet means.
 9. The pump station assembly of claim 8, further characterized by and including: a. a vacuum priming system for said pump unit, said vacuum priming system being mounted in a housing enclosing said motor means and mounted above said deck plate; and b. said thermostat control means controls a solenoid vent valve which allows air to enter said pump unit and thereby drain said pump unit of all liquid contained therein when said contained liquid falls below said predetermined temperature.
 10. In a pumping unit having a centrifugal pump, an operating motor, a vacuum priming pump for priming said centrifugal pump, the improvement comprising: a. thermostat control means effective to determine when the liquid contained within said pump unit falls below a predetermined temperature; b. said thermostat control means controls a solenoid vent valve which allows air to enter said pump unit and thereby drain said pump unit of all liquid contained therein when said contained liquid falls below said predetermined temperature. 